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Comment by MaupitiBlue | Hacker News Reader

Who cares about what crazy ideas RMS has about assault? If RMS was giving money to rapists I might care. That RMS hangs out in /b isn’t on my concern radar.

I fail to see how being so easily offended is good either for an individual or society. Quick to outrage doesn’t strike me as particularly mindful or consistent with best namaste practices.

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The issue of "offense" is a common misunderstanding. Suppose some respected person at a company says something like, "all French epmloyees are morons and thieves." This actively harms French employees in the social dynamics of the company even if not a single one of them was present or heard of it. These "offenses" are not about feelings being hurt, but about the social standing of people being actually degraded when people of a certain status express biases without being confronted and without harm to their status.

I am not saying there can't be pitfalls and dangers, but if you care to know what the perspective of those of us who are in favor of repercussions for people who promote dehumanizing views, that's what we're talking about.

I agree that you don’t want someone with strongly bigoted opinions leading an organization. That’s a far cry from ruining someone’s career because they hold opinions that aren’t approved by a vocal segment of the intelligentsia.

That's true, except I don't think that's the case here, or in most other notable cases that some vocal segment calls "cancel culture".

He did a LOT more than voice opinions. That's how you get fired. You do a LOT of shit and then finally you do the last thing that you end up doing before your org decides that you have to go. Don't be willfully ignorant.

I dont know how to feel about this comment. It adds nothing to the intellectual merits of discourse -- just like the OP, but echoes in part what I was thinking. Rarely do I comment but since you're being understandably downvoted I wanted to make an effort to reach out and say something akin to "mood" so you were aware your sentiment is shared, even though it is not very useful information

Have you not read the MANY first hand reports of what the guy did on a daily basis? He is not a good person and his interaction with women, particularly young women has been reported on, so, so, so many times by so many people. Look around, man. I agree, who cares about his crazy ideas. I agree, who cares about his being an insufferable human being. There are not crimes. They way the guy treated three women in my offices over the course of two days in 2013 ALONE was reason enough for him to not work for MIT.

Yet you seem offended that someone with a history of unwanted advances on women was fired from a position of public figurehead.

I care about it. I care about the opinion of people since their opinions may impact their decisions.

Caring about some persons opinion isn't the same thing as being offended.

You have no idea how people's opinions about various topics will impact their decisions on other topics. This is thought policing and abject discrimination.

Are you telling me that I'm not supposed to take other peoples opinions into account when deciding who to trust and support? Because if that's the case I will decide not to put any trust in what you say.

> I fail to see how being so easily offended is good either for an individual or society.

That's my concern too. Cancel culture is children throwing tantrums (instead of having a rational discourse) and getting their way, therefore never growing up, as a result of weak parenting. That's the way society is headed unless more educated, libertarian people make an effort to stop it.

Another poster used the word "dehumanizing". That seems like an apt description of the perils of cancel culture. If it's okay to destroy someone's career, their life, without considering whether the response is properly measured, why isn't it okay to (literally) burn them at the stake? And maybe their supporters, too?

We're on an evil path here.

Enabling the kind of behavior that RMS has been reported to have engaged in (reported by myself among others) is the evil path. Firing people for violating the standards of their org is a good idea. It should be done more often.

RMS's job was sharing his opinions, to get people to give money to the FSF.

So, yes, his opinions are pretty important.

And this says nothing about his behaviour at conferences.

Surely, the FSF can do better.

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